Wish You Were Here…

*This post was sponsored by MetLife® as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

This last weekend, we had an event at my brother’s house. My niece and nephew are growing up and we were celebrating the next step in their life.

I’m so proud of them. They have grown into such happy, talented, and responsible adults. I couldn’t ask more for them. Their Mom has done an amazing job. You see, I don’t talk about this much but we lost my brother to cancer a few years ago and she has been parenting them alone ever since.

My brother Justin was two years older than me. We were the oldest of eight kids and we were really good friends. We explored the woods, learned to play pool, and went to college together. We even got married a week apart from each other.

And of course, I miss him every day…

(Yes, I do believe this is actual footage of where it all began.)

He was very driven and had his priorities straight. His whole adult life was centered around his family.

He loved cooking, scouting, and working out.

before he was diagnosed

after he was diagnosed

Finding out he had cancer was one of the hardest things I have ever had to face. They tried surgery and treatment but it wasn’t meant to be.

I posted the following to my personal Facebook page and my Instagram account right before he passed away:

If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together, hold me in your heart, I’ll stay there forever.

I’m sure many of you can relate to losing someone you love. Death is definitely harder for those of us that are left behind. Mourning is one of the most difficult scars to heal.

Luckily for my brother’s family however, my brother and sister- in-law thought ahead and purchased life insurance. His family has been able to have what they physically need so that they have been able to focus on repairing their emotional reality. I have seen how much of a difference this makes in families. I have several friends that have lost their spouses and although the loss created an empty space in theirs and their children’s hearts, they were all able to conduct their lives close to what they had hoped to. Their children have been taken care of and they have had everything they needed. They have even been able to experience trips, and attend college.

This wouldn’t have been the case if they hadn’t had life insurance.

Many of the Moms I know that lost their spouses were at home moms. They would have had to start from scratch and find a job. Some of them had small children and this would have been very difficult on all of them.

My oldest son had the same best friend for most of his life. He was here all the time and even lived with us during his senior year.

He is like a son to me.

About a year ago, his Mom suddenly passed away. She had a heart attack at his sister’s wedding. It was heart breaking and it shocked everyone.

He is grown now and married but his parents had divorced a few years earlier and he still had a sister that lived with his mom. There was no life insurance to fall back on. His sister had to move in with their dad, which is fine but she prefers to stay with her brother so she lives with him and his wife most of the time. He’s always taken care of her, it’s touching. He’s a great big brother.

There was no money for the funeral, they had to start a donation account to help finance it and this sweet 22-year-old boy, I mean, man, is raising and supporting his 17-year-old sister.

The difference in how hard the losses have been is quite substantial. No one can tell me that it doesn’t help to have life insurance because I have seen the comparison with my own eyes. Anything is possible of course, in life, I have found that we tend to do what we must and strength tends to surface when it needs too.

It helps an unmeasurable amount however, to be prepared.

This made me think about life insurance for obvious reasons. I don’t want my family to suffer any more than they already will if something happens to me.

Many families today only insure the husband and only half of women have a life insurance policy. [1] This is hard to believe because half of women populate the work force. They are also frequently the bread winner. There are also a growing number of women that bring in substantial incomes from home. Many of us bring in substantial incomes selling items like leggings, consulting, baby-sitting, or even by running our own Etsy shops. It is hard however because frequently with freelance jobs, we don’t have the access to life insurance through an employer like other women that work outside of their homes.

A lack of life insurance can impact a family in a very negative way even if a woman is not the primary earner for her household. A spouse will most likely require time off to heal and take care of bereavement responsibilities which could result in income loss. A spouse might also decide to move to be close to family for help and support. These could also result in more income loss or even some decreases in salary. Even in the event of the woman being a stay at home parent, the spouse may be required to seek day care to continue working. The average cost for a four-year-old in center-based child care is nearly $13,000 a year which is approximately $1080 per month, it’s even more expensive for infants [2].

Fortunately, MetLife has created a simple term life insurance product that provides up to $500,000 in coverage, without an in-person medical exam or requests for fluids, they just ask a handful of health questions. I was interested in what it might cost me. MetLife makes it clear that your actual premium may be higher depending on your answers to health questions in the application.

And look how easy it is to get a quote:

Not to mention how affordable it is.

Applicants receive a yes/no decision about coverage and a quote in real-time, right away, online or by phone. MetLife Rapid Term can be a great solution for busy women to get life insurance that they know they can trust and depend on.

Research shows that a medical exam is the number one reason that keeps most people from protecting their loved ones [3]. With MetLife Rapid Term, applicants will never be asked to complete an in-person medical exam or submit fluids, like blood or urine, ever; the application just asks a handful of health questions, which can be completed online. For more information on the full terms, conditions and limitations about the MetLife Rapid Term product, I encourage you to look at MetLife’s MetLife Rapid Term website.

You should get your quote today and see how easy it is to look out for your family. With MetLife, it only takes a minute.

Even though losing someone you love is one of the hardest things that you may ever face in this life, life goes on. Time really does heal wounds and almost always, we are glad that we loved fully without knowing what was to come.

I have loved and lost people I care about more than I ever expected too. It has ALWAYS hurt. It has always been REALLY hard. Every time however, I have felt extremely blessed to of had them in my life. They have each one touched my life in ways that I will never be able to measure. They have helped shape who I am today and they still influence my thoughts consistently. I will forever be grateful for their love and influence.

“Don’t be sad because it’s over, be happy because it happened.”

“If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies” – unknown

It does help however to be prepared and it is possible to help take care of our loved ones even after we are gone thanks to MetLife.

Thanks for listening to my thoughts today friends, this one required me to dig up some memories that I tend to store in the in the “save for later” section of my heart. Please excuse the tears that may have affected my writing. They aren’t exactly sad tears, they are just “this means a lot to me tears” because I wanted to share with you my heart.

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About Me

Hi I'm Amber

I believe it's possible to live beautifully on any budget. I love creating beautiful things and helping you accomplish this as well by offering ideas, free printables, and deals.
Let's get creative and have some fun while we fumble through this crazy adventure called life.

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Welcome to Snippets!
I believe it's possible to live beautifully on any budget. I love creating beautiful things and helping you accomplish this as well by offering ideas, free printables, and deals. Let's get creative and have some fun while we fumble through this crazy adventure called life.
- amber xo

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